Blind Bargains Qast 111: BoHo Pizza Rat

Style and fashion might be scary words to some of us who are not fans of clothing shopping. In this week's episode, Ricky Enger stops by to talk about Clothing Subscription Services that might just take the fear of the unknown out of the shopping equation. We'll also reverberate in the "Last Word" and find out how you can make those new voices in NVDA even faster than the default in our tip of the week.

Sponsor: Humanware

Humanware recently announced the Victor Reader Trek, a combination talking media player and GPS. After Joe's interview with Greg Stilson around convention time, many of you sent in questions which Greg has answered. We'll include these later in the show notes. You can preorder it now for $599 which is $100 off the list price, or call Humanware at 800-722-3393.

Discussion Topic: On Demand Clothing Options

Independently shopping for clothing that reflects your personal style can be a challenge, though it is a necessary evil. In this segment, Ricky And J.J. discuss two styling subscription options which allow a user to receive a box of items at chosen intervals, and select the items to keep or return. Both options discussed are available for men and women, and require a $20 styling fee for each box received. Returns are processed through USPS, simply using the included return envelope to send back the clothing that didn't work out. The services reviewed were Stitchfix and Wantable. You can visit the main websites, or you canUse Ricky's invite code for Stitchfix orUse Ricky's invite code for Wantable.

Tip: Faster and Faster Voices

J.J. explains how to speed up the new Microsoft voices which are now available with NVDA 2017.3

Sound Off:

Three emails make up the feedback this week. Up first, Daniel Crone was kind enough to ask a question about episode 110's title.

"What is blast processing?"

Blast processing was a made up marketing term by SEGA of America to promote Sonic The Hedgehog. It was used in many of their 90's commercials.
Joe mentioned the term briefly at the top of the episode in relation to the tease for his contribution to the "Last Word".

Next, Victor Marques wanted to pass along a story that was quite like the one Chancey told on BBQ 110.

"Funny story relating to Chancey's walk back to the hotel where the person told her that she could find her car in the back parking lot. People really just are clueless sometimes and do not think. My wife and I were leaving McDonald's with the two children we were caring for that day and our two dog guides. We were standing outside getting my Trekker Breeze ready and harnessing the dogs when someone asked if he could help us find our car. It took about 10 seconds of silence and probably quizzical expressions on our faces for him to realize and comment that we probably did not have a car. We do, however, look forward to the day in a few years where that question might have some validity, and that certainly is exciting with the advancements in driverless technology. What are your takes on that and do you think it will ever get to the point of true autonomy?"

lastly, Rodney Neely had this to say after hearing our previous episode.

Hello J.J. and Joe,
My name is Rodney Neely. I have been a loyal listener of your program
for a long time. Joe, I used to listen to you when you worked for
Serotek.
I really enjoy all of your programs. But there is one area in which I
think that some focus might be beneficial for all blind people,
especially for those of us who work in a predominantly sighted
work-place.
I am hoping that you might consider doing a segment on the
collaborative work-place.
and/or different ways that blind people can collaborate with our
sighted colleagues in the work-place.
Fortunately, Zoom is fairly accessible. Unfortunately, the Federal
government chooses to use Microsoft Sharepoint and Skype for Business
as its collaborative work-place solutions. Neither of these tools is
really usable by blind people without some expensive plug-ins.
If you eeally want to get your listeners excited, you should contact
representatives from the NFB, the ACB, and even AFB to see what steps
they have taken to combat this problem.
Whether you choose to do a program that focuses on this topic or not,
I will still listen to your programs.
Please let me know what you think of this idea."

Where to start... Well, we've used Zoom a few times and we may do a focused segment on it in the future. The collaborative work-place problem has existed for quite some time in Government, private and Education sectors. It isn't an easy discussion to have as you might approach each sector differently depending on the State or Federal level. And making things more complex is the bidding process for procurement. It Departments also tend to play favorites based upon technical implementation and the need for less training of staff with some deployments. But that is just the tip of the iceberg really. joe gives some ideas about how to go about the process. However, he also says that this was one of the reasons why he left State Government 7 years ago.

Victor Reader Trek Answers from Greg

Tina Hansen
Is there any chance of adding support for Bluetooth keyboards?

GS: This is not implemented in version 1 but is possible and has been a requested feature.

What about Audible support?

GS: We are in discussions with Audible and they are supportive of making accommodations for the upcoming Trek.

Michael Micallef
I heard with great interest this podcast regarding victor reader tracker. At present I m already have victor reader streamII. But now I have the following questions:
Is there a possibility that we the existing vrstream users to trade in our device with the new vrstream-trecker device?

GS: HumanWare is currently offering a preorder discount of $100 off the retail price of $699 with the product shipping in October. There is currently no trade in program available.

Joanna Toner
Are there any plans to allow RNIB Talking Books members to be able to access the Library through the Stream?
GS: Both on the Stream and Trek we are currently working with RNIB to implement the RNIB Bookshare books as an option for those users in the UK.

Will it be possible to change the default location of podcasts from the internal memory to the removal SD Card?

GS: This has been a highly requested feature and is something we are looking into for an upcoming release on both the Stream and Trek.

Will the internal clock keep more accurate time?

GS: On both the Stream and Trek the device syncs with an internet time server and will always sync your clock back to that server as soon as an internet connection is detected.

If someone buys the Trek in the UK I presume they will get access to the UK map. If that person goes on holiday to the US, will they be able to purchase the US map and install it on the same unit?

GS: Upon launch the device will ship with the country or region in which you are located. For example if you are located in the UK you will receive the UK map. If you are located in Michigan you will receive the North America map which includes the US and Canada. After the device is launched we will be validating European and other countries as quickly as possible to ensure the maps are compatible and will be rolling the product out in these locations as well. Our hope is to release version 1.1 by end of year which will include the ability to purchase other maps and have them downloaded wirelessly to the device.

Ted Phillips
My name is Ted Phillips and I have been listening to your podcast on the new Victor reader trek. I was looking on the humanware website for information on its availability in Canada. I hope that you will soon provide information on its availability in Canada. And the cost as well. Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you
Ted

GS: The device will be first released in North America in October. This includes the US and Canada and a Trek user in this region will receive the entire North American map on the device. The price is $599 preorder and $699 retail USD.

Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for10 years and podcasting about it for nearly 5 years.